Short visit to Munich

Pick up a can or bottle of LöwenWeisse if you can find it. I found it to be surprisingly good.

 

I visited Munich a couple of weeks ago for the first time and I had a really good time. I spent five nights there and I divided my time between beer and non beer related sights. I got to try alot of the Munich beers that I wanted to try (Augustiner Helles, Edelstoff, Dunkel, Pils), (Löwenbräu Dunkel, Pils), (Hofbräu Dunkel), (Hacker Pschorr Hell) though not all. The brewery tour at Spaten Franziskaner was really fun even though it was very much catering to average beer drinkers. They had fresh Spaten Hell and Löwenbräu Pils on tap and Löwenbräu Dunkel in bottles (I tried the Dunkel on tap at the Löwenbräu Keller afterwards).

I visited some of the famous beer halls. Augustiner am platzl, am Dom, Stammhaus and bräustüberl. Hofbräuhaus am platzl. Löwenbräukeller. Biergarten sm Chineschischer turm. And I visited Paulaner Bräuhaus and had a halbe of their helles brewed on site.

The beer and Oktoberfest museum was a letdown however. Even with the 4 Euro entry fee it felt really empty.

I was quite impressed by Augustiner Helles, Edelstoff, Pils and Löwenbräu Pils. Those four beers were the highlight of my trip.

 

One interesting thing that was said on the brewery tour at Spaten Franziskaner (wich was in German) was that the beer which was packaged for Europe was pasteurized once, whereas the beer packaged for sale outside of Europe was pasteurized twice, the beer was simply sent in a loop back into the pasteurizer a second time, to increase its shelf life. The guide pointed out that this meant that the German beer drinkers were getting a fresher beer.

 

Just by virtue of being available down the street rather than across an ocean means German drinkers are getting fresher beer -- nevermind Pasteurization (which really doesn't effect "freshness," per se).

@jesskidden

 

Yeah, sounds weird to link pasteurization with "freshness". Unless they do the first pasteurization at the end of the day and ship the beer locally and then the next day re-pasteurize the beer coming to the US. So it's a day older. (Just kidding).

Never heard of double pasteurization. Maybe they flash pasteurize all their beer and then tunnel pasteurize the bottles and cans to be exported?

Remember than Maytag did some of the early flash pasteurizing of packaged beer in the US (along with Lone Star, which Maytag visited) yet he still recommended refrigeration for Anchor bottles (which most retailers ignored, of course).

Oops. Scratch that thought. Just re-read @Crusader's post:

Some brewers (of the super-taster variety) claim they can detect a "cooked" flavor of pasteurized beer. I read once (but have never been able to find it again) where Jim Koch, when criticized for pasteurizing SABL (because it was brewed in macro breweries not then set up for anything else) claimed he liked the slight "roasted" flavor tunnel pasteurization gave his beer.

 

Giesinger is worth a stop to see how the " new kid on the block" is doing. We stopped for one at the Stehausschank across the street from Der Pschorr near the Viktualienmarkt last weekend.

A guy we know who lives in Munich told us that the locals say Ayinger is not good. ;-)

 

This is a common attitude. Where I drink and the beer I drink is the best. The beer from one town away – undrinkable.

 

Hence the wink emoje.